Bitter-Sweet Morning

To meet, to know… and then to part,
Is a sad tale of many a human heart.
Clichéd as these words might sound, the inevitability of all relationships struck us rather rudely this morning when Kishor and Renu Babani’s son, Prakash dropped by to say his goodbye at the Garden. He will be gone tonight, for the next five years to pursue his degree in psychiatry at Toronto, where he is based.
As one who had endeared himself so effortlessly over the past six weeks here, Prakash received his share of warm hugs and handshakes from all. Shekhawat blessed him on our behalf and declared that after he is done with his studies in five years, we will all be “looking around”!
“Looking around where… for what?” Monthi Serrao piped in.
“Ladki dhoodenge… for his marriage,” Shekhawat clarified confidently.
“But what if he finds someone there?” Khatoon Baig was worried.
“In that case, we will all go to Canada for the wedding, via Pattawa!”
Shekhawat had a piece of advice also for Prakash. “Every time you open a bottle in Canada, think of us and have an extra peg in our name,” he said, only to be cut short by Yusuf Rassiwala: “Bilkul nahin, beta!”
Prakash happens to be a Canadian citizen, but is more Indian than most Indians his age in India. Not only is he connected to his roots, he has imbibed its essential cultural and spiritual values that would do any parent proud. We too are proud of him. Our love and good wishes are always with you, Prakash!
Srichand Arora:
I am sorry Prakash, I could not meet you before you left. Hope you will complete your five-year degree course with distinction. All the best. Though neither of us knows when we will meet next, but you will remain in our hearts forever. God bless you!
Harish Wadhwa:
Prakash is a real darling. May God bless him with success and happiness in all walks of life.

Eye Candy

So far the jokes’ narration after the exercises has served as our daily ‘breakfast’ staple. We can never have enough of them. But today, Shekhawat gave us an additional option – the proverbial jam on the bread – for our morning naashta. Or so would Yusuf Rassiwala have us believe.
In the course of conducting the exercises, Shekhawat became so absent-minded that he went on clapping Ho-ho, Ho-ho, Ho-ho, Ho-ho… without stopping, much like a cracked record. To our astonishment and utter disbelief, we found him transfixed as though in a trance, his eyes following a tall, fair, lissome lady in figure-hugging maroon sari taking the bend on the walking track. She was obviously someone new in the Garden. Shekhawat kept staring at her, swiveling his head full 360 degrees like a weathercock... till some members shouted “Idhar” to draw his attention back to the exercises. We burst into laughter and Kishor quipped:“Heroine ja rahi hai!” “Yeh naashta hai,” Yusuf corrected him.
By then, Shekhawat had turned beetroot red, his condition worsening every time the lady crossed his view. And as his luck would have it, Kishor’s mobile had to break into “Taakte rehte tujhko saanjh sawere…” at that very moment, thus triggering another volley of bawdy jokes.
Some ladies wondered how Shekhawat would behave in Kashmir when he'd find many more lissome beauties there. The consensus was that he'd go berserk… even abandon the group for good. At the same time, everybody agreed that it goes to the man’s credit to have retained, at his age, the innocence and mischief of his childhood.
P.S.: Sitaram Hivarkar (in pic) has invited us all to the naming ceremony of his granddaughter at a community hall in D.N.Nagar. The celebration coincides with his birthday on June 11. Details are awaited.
Harish Wadhwa:
"Maaloom pada kaun thi woh? We are curious to know, Blog Monster. At least you could have taken her picture for the benefit of people who missed seeing her!"

Bharat Bandh

Exercises were conducted in the shadow of Bharat Bandh today. Attendance was low. The streets were deserted. A police picket had come up a few yards away from the Garden gate. Bapu Rane came in excited, anouncing that there had been rampant stone pelting near his place.
The nation-wide strike was called by some right-wing and Left parties in protest against the recent petrol price hike.
But at the Garden, it was business as usual. The regular walkers were there, going round and round the walking track. Film actor Om Puri could be seen among them – though initially unrecognisable in scruffy white beard with matching hair. He stopped by to exchange pleasantries with Yusuf Rassiwala (pic above), among others. The latter was in an unusually jolly mood today, as he hummed along with the music playing on Kishor Babani’s mobile during the exercises.
Shekhawat looked equally spirited as he announced that his ‘Kashmir count’ has risen to 36, with Kiran Sajjan’s husband phoning him last evening for two bookings in the hotel at Srinagar. The couple would make their own travel arrangements to-and-fro. Surprisingly, Kiran (right pic) was unaware of this. “I will let you know once we finalise our travel plans… that is, if at all we are going,” she said.
The funny part is that on the one hand, Shekhawat is reluctant to take any more people on the trip because “it would only make things unmanageable”. On the other hand, he is quite thrilled every time someone calls up to join. His initial target was a contingent of 30 and having reached that figure, he announced freezing the list. Now, with one or two new requests cropping up every day, he could well land a 50-strong battalion by August 31. That's exactly three months from today.
Harish Wadhwa:
It is good that more members are willing to take the Kashmir trip. Why not? Our country has so much to offer. Where else do you find so many goodhearted people? Our own tourist spots remain unexplored and therefore make the best of this opportunity. Kal ho na ho! Hats off to the initiative and enthusiasm of Shekhawat-ji.
Today's chai was no good -- especially in those stupid, white, skinny, shapeless, unholdable, environment-polluting plastic cups...

Ants in Pants

The ants are out. In what should be indicative of the rains round the corner, large armies of ants have emerged over-ground at the Garden, crisscrossing the area where we exercise. However, instead of rejoicing at their presence, the ladies kept doing a hop, skip and dance at regular intervals in order to dodge them. Santosh Tyagi and Razia Khan looked extremely distressed, stomping the ground all the while. Twice we had to shift position en-masse for their sake, till there was nowhere else to go. The entire Garden was crawling with ants.
Shekhawat wondered aloud why the ants should selectively bother the ladies and spare the men. Ramila Mistry pointed at the men being well shod (particularly Arora’s new pair of shoes) which could be a deterrent. Bapu Rane said a better deterrent would be applying oil on the legs. Bose opined that the ants would go for anything sweet. Obviously there was no sweetness in the perspiration of men.
As the debate warmed up, Arun Patil suggested that the best way to deal with ants was to ignore them. But Rane was not convinced. He was scared stiff that the ants would climb up to his “important” (whatever that meant). Arora prodded him on why he had not come prepared by oiling himself appropriately -- little expecting Rane to disappear into the toilet just when Shekhawat was to shout, “Rane jahaan pe bhi ho, baith jao!” Before long, Rane came out sporting a shy smile: “I needed to take my trousers off because the ants had attacked my important!”
Watching the tamasha was our new guest, Mrs Grover, who took part in the exercises and later dropped by for tea (above right) with the Badmaash Company. She is on vacation from Delhi, staying with her son at Tarapore Garden. She promised to join us every morning for the time she is in Mumbai.
Harish Wadhwa:
* Never underestimate the might of the small. Ants today proved the point. Well, if you step onto their homes, they are bound to retaliate. Blog Monster, that was a nice title today -- 'Ants in Pants'. Sounds like a killer movie!
* Welcome Mrs Grover! It was also nice to have the company of Mrs Bhaswati Bose and Mrs Ramila Mistry today for the chai.

Calamity Strikes

An unusually cloudy and pleasant morning, marred by a bizarre case of chain-snatching. The victim, an elderly lady (in pic) was on her way to the Garden and had taken the deserted stretch across Green Acres when two young men on a motorcycle struck her from behind. She lost her balance and fell on the sidewalk. By the time she recovered and got to her feet, the motorcycle had disappeared in the horizon. Only then did she realize that the 3-tola gold chain around her neck was missing.
The lady could not take down the number of the motorcycle. She had no description of the men who hit her. She had a cell-phone, but did not call the cops. She did not even try going to the cop station nearby, but chose to walk for 15 minutes to the Garden. All she succeeded in was attracting a sizeable crowd and loads of sympathy. When some of us offered to accompany her to the police station and lodge a complaint, she declined. She did not want to bother the cops as she had no faith in them.
Last year, around this time, there was a spate of similar chain snatching incidents in the vicinity (see post of April 28, 2011). An old and infirm Bengali lady had lost all the jewellery on her person, including gold bangles to motorcycle goons. Neelam Garg was also attacked near the same Green Acres. Shekhawat recounted how a lady, holding two kids on either side, was hit from behind and before she could gather her wits, was relieved of her gold chain and purse. Another man narrated how his wife was robbed of a 5-tola chain on the same street. The stories kept mounting…
Meanwhile, here’s wishing Ram Shankar Shukla (left) many happy returns of the day as he steps into his 77th year. We understand he is at present travelling; but our good wishes stay with him, wherever he is, at all times.
Harish Wadhwa:
* A sad incident. My sympathies go out to the woman who was robbed. It shows how desperate the goons are to amass quick money. It is also a warning to all to shun the yellow metal, if they wanna be safe. Try imitation jewellery instead. You and the jewellery would look no different.
* Happy Birthday, Shukla-ji. May you have many more wonderful and healthy years ahead!
Bhaswati Bose:
Wearing imitation jewellery is not safe either, Harish-bhai. The frustrated chain snatchers will punish you the next day with a tight slap, as one young lady in Lokhandwala found out!